


What's your f@!#n' deal?!

by BBTwo



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anger, Arguing, Denial, Detention, Hope's Peak Academy, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Roughhousing, Slow Burn, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23853754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBTwo/pseuds/BBTwo
Summary: Whenever Ishimaru caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror- whether it be while changing his clothes or shaving- he always wondered, "why is my mark there"?Soulmate AU where everybody has a mark of where their soulmate will first touch them.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka & Oowada Mondo, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 31
Kudos: 269





	1. The Fateful Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fanfiction in forever! Let me know what you think of this (:

Whenever Ishimaru caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror—whether it be while changing his clothes or shaving—he always wondered, "why is my mark  _ there _ ?” The mark was under his chin and on his upper neck. Ishimaru couldn’t even imagine what would lead somebody to touch him there. He ruled out being choked or being saved from choking. CPR was an option but not likely. He tried not dwelling on it too much; he likes putting his nose to the books anyways. He does want to meet his soulmate one day, but his education is more important to him. Or so he thought.

He goes to a prestigious and very elite high school, Hope's Peak Academy, where only the best of the best can be let in. Ishimaru is the Ultimate Hall Monitor. He follows every rule to a T and isn’t afraid to enforce the rules on his peers who are breaking them. He is sure that his peers don’t like him for this and make fun of him behind his back, but again he doesn’t care, his education is his number one priority. Ishimaru makes sure to do well in all of his classes, he does his homework for fun, and every spare moment is spent either studying for exams or going out of his way to learn new things or skills. 

As he wanders the halls on his morning duty, he encounters some of the usual troublemakers. The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Mondo Oowada, and his friend the Ultimate Baseball Star, Leon Kuwata. Ishimaru often had to discipline these two. He wondered how somebody like Mondo was even allowed to attend this school despite the implications of his Ultimate talent. Today, they were kicking the trash cans around the hallways and causing an overall ruckus. Mondo's jacket bounced behind him as he dragged his feet down the hall. While Leon's boisterous laugh bounced off the hallway walls. Ishimaru has had enough of their behavior and stormed over to the two of them. 

“Excuse me! You’re causing a disruption in the hallways right now!” Ishimaru started to assert, “It says in section 74 paragraph—” Mondo let out a growl and grabbed Ishimaru by the collar and pushed him against the wall. His knuckles brushed up against Ishimaru's neck and rested under his chin. Ishimaru's eyes widened— ‘it couldn't be, could it? No way.’ he thought.

“HEY! WHAT’S YOUR FUCKIN’ DEAL—” he roared. Ishimaru put a hand on Mondo’s to stop him from potentially choking him. He sees the mark on Mondo’s hand starts to vibrantly shine every color on the visible spectrum. Ishimaru goes pale and begins to feel the heat of his cheeks. Mondo’s eyes widen as he sees the color of his hands and Ishimaru’s neck and chin. 

“WOAH!” Leon let out. Mondo looked over to him, unsure of what he will do next. “Looks like somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!” Leon said sheepishly. A smirk overtook Leon’s face, which made the palm print mark on his face all the more noticeable. Mondo realized Leon wasn’t able to see the colors on the two of them. Leon was such a blabbermouth, he couldn’t let this spread like wildfire. At least not until he could wrap his head around this.

“Hey— Let me deal with this on my own. Besides, I think I saw Sayaka over there!” Mondo said, trying to act like everything was normal. Like a dog, Leon perked up and started to turn his head in all directions to look for Sayaka. Mondo pointed him in a direction and he ran off. When they were alone, Mondo loosened his grip completely on Ishimaru and let him drop to the ground. He looked at his hand in disbelief, still not being able to come to terms with what just happened. 

Ishimaru put his hand on his neck. He never thought this would happen to him like this, or at this age. And never, in a million years, would he ever think that Mondo Oowada would be his soulmate. After a minute of silence, they started to stare at each other. Crimson took over both of their faces. They both started to let out what they were going to say. Immediately following with “No, you go first!”

Ishimaru cleared his throat, “As hall monitor, I’d make you go to the principal’s office for what you just did... But I think I’m going to let you off the hook just this once.” Ishimaru looked at Mondo who seemed a bit bothered. 

“Hey look, I think we both didn’t want this to happen, so how about we just forget about it, huh?” Mondo said, offering his hand to Ishimaru. He takes it and Mondo lifts him up. 

“No! I will simply not forget about it! You’re right, I would never want this to have happened. But we are soulmates for a reason. I suggest we find a way to settle our differences and go from there.” Ishimaru offered. He thought that this was the most diplomatic way to go about this. But Mondo Oowada is anything but diplomatic.

“Hell fuckin’ no,” Mondo let out before turning his back from the hall monitor. Ishimaru gripped Mondo’s shoulder, trying to dig his nails into it so he would stop moving. “Yo, what the fuck! Don’t ruin my jacket, man!” 

“I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the best of me, I am still a hall monitor after all. I’m issuing you detention for what you did! You’re lucky I’m not pushing for a harsher punishment! Meet me after school in the room on this slip, if you skip you  _ will _ be suspended. And this lasts until I say so,” Ishimaru upbraided. He slapped the slip in Mondo’s hand, and Mondo immediately crumpled it and threw it on the ground and started muttering an obscene amount of curse words under his breath. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” Ishimaru asked.

“I’ll see you after school,  _ asshole _ ,” Mondo scowled. He stormed off in the direction he sent Leon in. Ishimaru was left there dumbfounded, speechless, and angry.


	2. The Eternal Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day moved at a snail’s pace. The rain outside pitter-patters against the windows as Ishimaru is in class. Being in class was eating away at Ishimaru, almost all of his attention was focused on staring out the window. It took all of his might not to think about Mondo and what would happen between them after school.

The rain outside pitter-patters against the windows as Ishimaru is in class. Sitting in class not being able to do anything was eating away at Ishimaru. His brain was going a thousand miles a minute. This surprised him because, besides feeling sick about once a year, he couldn’t recall a time that he didn’t want to be in class. Almost all of his attention was focused on staring out the window right now. It took all of his might to not think about Mondo, or stare at Mondo as he was in front of him in this class. Luckily for both of them, their marks disappeared before class started and nobody seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. 

He was caught in his thoughts when suddenly a paper ball was thrown at his face by Leon. He could hear the laughter from the hallways this morning. He looked up, dazed, and confused. Everybody was looking at him, and their stares and laughter were burning into his soul. Mondo was looking at him too, he had a smirk plastered on his face, but his eyes seemed filled with some sort of regret.

“Hello Ishimaru, glad to see you could make it to be here with us. Could you answer the question?” The teacher asked. The question was met with some snickers from his classmates, as he seems to know the answer to everything. He looked at the board and gave the answer she was looking for. “Ishimaru, you never space out. Are you ok? Do you need to go to the nurse or anything?” she asked in a nagging way. 

“I’m okay… Please, there is no need to focus on me. You can continue your lesson.” he responded. 

“Wow! Thanks for the permission, Ishimaru!” Leon teased. It was met with a couple of laughs. Mondo gave out a very small laugh as well. Most people looked back at the board as the teacher resumed teaching, except Mondo. He furrowed his brows and had a small scowl on his face before looking back to the board. His eyes were big and wide as if he were sad and not small and piercing as he was looking into Ishimaru's eyes. Ishimaru couldn’t tell if Mondo was faking the scowl, or if he was overthinking and psychoanalyzing an acquaintance… if he could even call him that; which was ironic given Mondo was his newfound soulmate. 

The rest of the day moved at a snail’s pace. Ishimaru opted to go to the library for lunch instead of the cafeteria or doing hall duty. He tried to start some newly assigned homework but ended up spacing out again. He figured he’d let his mind go off track now so he could potentially focus better in his next classes. But even he knew he was lying to himself. His classes were a blur of Mondo and pretending to pay attention to the teacher’s lessons. Somewhere in between that, school ended. 

Ishimaru promptly went to the room where detention would be held. He supervises detention as a part of his hall duties. If his memory served him correctly, Mondo should be the only one who had detention this afternoon. Ishimaru was hoping Mondo wouldn’t flake on him. Ishimaru set himself up at the teacher’s desk and waited for Mondo, who showed up ten minutes late.

“Hey there! Welcome to detention!” Ishimaru said, trying his hardest to put on a big smile. He marked down that Mondo showed up on his attendance sheet. Mondo leered at him. 

“Stop it with that fake-ass smile and your cheery behavior. It makes me want to punch you,” Mondo stated. Ishimaru looked disappointed and stopped smiling and sulked in his seat a little bit. Mondo took a seat at the furthest back desk and put his feet up on the desk. 

“Mondo, could you please sit closer to the front?” Ishimaru asked. Mondo went out of his seat and moved up one row and put his feet up on the new desk “This is still detention you know, you should sit at least two rows away from me so that I can keep a close eye on you.” he said. Mondo repeated back what he said in a mocking tone, complying with his demands. 

“So you want to keep a closer eye on me, huh. What are you, a pervert?!” Mondo grumbled.

“No! Nothing of the sort! I just want to make sure you aren’t doing anything you aren’t supposed to,” Ishimaru said, getting on the defensive. 

“Oooh! Look at me, I’m such a delinquent!” Mondo retorted. He whipped out his phone from his pocket and waved it in the air, “Look at me, I’m on my phone! I’m going to text all of my friends during detention!” he sassed. Ishimaru got out of his seat and grabbed the phone out of Mondo’s hand.

“Aw, dude! What the FUCK! Give it back,” Mondo snapped.

“After detention,” Ishimaru responded, putting his phone on the teacher's desk. Mondo didn’t notice that Ishimaru started to get out his own phone.

“Of course, it’s just my luck that my soulmate is a fucking hardass and I have to run into him when all I want to do is live my own life! Why couldn’t I have a cool biker chick or some badass beefcake as my soulmate,” he carped, throwing his hands in the air. Mondo glared at Ishimaru, who was now on his phone. “HEY! What the fuck are you doing! Get your grimy little hands off my phone!” Mondo retaliated.

“Well my ‘grimy little hands’ are adding my number to your phone, and vise versa. You can’t avoid me, no matter how much you try to deny it or avoid it, soulmate.” Mondo growled at him and crossed his arms. 

“What, now that you didn’t get your way you’re going to act like a five-year-old?” Ishimaru said. Mondo rolled his eyes and turned his head. “Well, maybe I didn’t want a soulmate who would act this immature over such a serious life matter! And maybe, just for once, I want somebody to see past me being what they think is a hardass and give me a chance. I would’ve at least expected that from my soulmate!” Ishimaru yelled. He let himself sink into his seat and put his hands on his head. Mondo looked over at him and took in the sight of a defeated Ishimaru. He quickly went back to pouting and looking away from Ishimaru like a child.

Some time passed where the two sat in complete silence. Mondo had his feet up on the desk again and had one arm propping him up on the back of the chair and the other he had extended and was staring at out of boredom. 

“So, like, when can I leave?” Mondo asked. Ishimaru perked up from his thoughts. 

“You can leave once the after school activities are done. And you are coming back here tomorrow, and the day after, until I say so,” he said. “Because unlike you I am not giving up on us, somehow… this connection was meant to be.”

“I shouldn't have even fucking asked,” he grumbled. “What did you say would happen if I didn't show up to these?”

“I will get you suspended, and I  _ will _ push for maximum punishment,” Ishimaru said. Mondo threw his head back and groaned.

“You have two more hours, you could do homework so you could go biking later,” Ishimaru suggested.

“Go biking later? What, do you think you know everything about me just because I’m a leader of a bike gang?” Mondo jeered.

“Well no— I just only assumed—” Ishimaru conceded.

“Yeah that’s right, you assumed, asshole. Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, bud,” Mondo said as he reached into his backpack. Crumbled papers fell out everywhere.

“Do you want any help with that? Being organized will help you do better with your work!” Ishimaru said with a cheery smile. 

“No.”

“Please?” Ishimaru pleaded as he gave Mondo a pleading look. Looking away and sighing, Mondo wished he didn't look over at Ishimaru.

“If I say yes, will you stop bothering me?” Mondo replied in a defeated tone. 

“Only for the rest of detention,”

“Ok, fine. Help me with this mess then,” Mondo reluctantly said, giving in. Ishimaru pulled up a desk next to him and dumped out the backpack's contents onto it. He stood over the desk as him and Mondo went through the crumbled papers together. An hour or so passed without the two of them knowing. They made small talk over the papers they were organizing. 

“I’ll bring you some spare binders and folders tomorrow, those should help you maintain this and not stuff things into your bag in the future!” Ishimaru said, genuinely happy. 

“Wow, who knew you’d be so pleased just from some pieces of paper and office supplies.” Mondo let out under his breath with a slight grin. 

“What did you say? I didn’t hear you,”

“Ah, it was nothing. Thanks for the spare stuff. Although I’m sure you have a ton of those at home.” Mondo said.

“Do you think you know everything about me just because I love learning?” Ishimaru tried to say in a teasing tone. 

“Well I mean— Oh, I see what you did there,” Mondo said, rolling his eyes. “Maybe you aren't as socially inept as I thought you were.” Although the comment was hurtful, Ishimaru figured he would have to take the ‘wins’ as they came. The bell rang, signaling that after school activities were over. Mondo swung his bag over his shoulder and headed towards the door.

“See you tomorrow,” Ishimaru said nervously, prepared to be met back with anger. He held out Mondo's phone to give back to him.

“Yeah,” Mondo said, grabbing his phone. Their fingers brushed and Ishimaru blushed. Ishimaru didn't catch how Mondo reacted as he already shut the door behind him. Ishimaru put his stuff away in his backpack. The homework he set out to do while on duty was never touched. He can just do it when he gets home, and if worse comes to worst he can do it tomorrow. For once, he had something he wanted to prioritize higher than his own education. He looked out the window and heard Mondo’s motorcycle rev its engine. He saw Mondo put on a helmet. Ishimaru smiled, he was happy that Mondo was responsibly driving; he didn’t really expect that out of Mondo. He looked back down at Mondo but it seemed like Mondo was looking up towards the detention room. Ishimaru quickly ducked out of sight—‘that was close!’

Ishimaru got lost in his thoughts again. He figured Mondo didn’t wear his helmet around his fellow gang members. He wants to be perceived as the badass in the room. He needs to be the dominant one, the alpha male. Anybody could tell that after spending five minutes in a room with Mondo. He thought about how Mondo would interact with his gang and what they would do. It consumed his thoughts on his way home.

Ishimaru was digging through his room. He was looking for his spare binders and folders and ended up finding them near his bookshelf and desk. He quickly got to work shifting through it.

“No… no…” he said as he was quickly throwing one folder or binder after another onto the floor until the container was empty. ‘None of these are good enough’ Ishimaru concluded after getting up to look at the mess he made. He cleaned up after himself before looking for something else, his money. He didn’t have a lot of it, but he figured this would be a perfect reason to spend his money. 

Before leaving the house he made sure to check any other places where some spare change would be, like in between the cushions of the couch or in the laundry room. He found about a dollar in spare change and then headed off to the office supply store. 

When he got there, Ishimaru laid his eyes on a black folder. It had a black grid pattern on it that was fading out towards the end of the folder, and there were two gray skulls on it. ‘Wow, this is perfect, this screams Mondo!’ he thought. He took one, and then also got some black, gray, and gold folders, and even some pencils and erasers. He checked out and spent a little more money than he would've liked to. But he didn't care, he couldn't wait for detention tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if this is a good way to format the dialogue but hopefully it was readable! Let me know if you have any constructive criticism.


	3. Water Damaged Ceiling

The accidental brush. His hand was cold—‘how could a guy’s hand be that cold?!’ Mondo quickly left. His heart fluttered. Mondo’s mind raced a million miles a minute as he ran down the hallway making a beeline for his bike. ‘This can't be happening, no! That was just a fluke, he isn't my soulmate and I definitely didn't like that!’ He had a slight tint to his face just thinking about it. He made it to his bike and was about to muffle his thoughts with the loudness of the engine. But for some reason, he was captivated to look up into the room he was just in. There he saw Ishimaru, smiling his ass off like an idiot before quickly ducking away after he realized he was seen. Mondo acted indifferently, but he had never been more freaked out as he sped off.

The sky had been dark for a few hours by the time Mondo got home that night. Thanks to the detention, it threw off everything he had planned after school. Mondo couldn’t stop thinking about what a fucking selfish asshole Ishimaru was for basically abusing his powers to make Mondo stay in detention with him. Sure, Mondo slammed him against the wall, but blackmailing him to stay in detention had to be against his human rights! Mondo let his unknowing stomping consume his thoughts. He marched his way up to his room, he whipped open his room door which caused the fragile door screws to further loosen its grip to the door hinge. 

He was about to throw his bag on the floor but then decided just to sling it off his shoulder and lightly toss it instead. Ishimaru had nothing to do with that though, he just realized what a nice backpack he had and that he should take care of it; it’s not about the nicely organized schoolwork that he and Ishimaru spent the last two hours of detention going over. Ishimaru was so eager to help, like a puppy. He didn't treat Mondo with much prejudice despite all of the times Mondo and his friends have acted mean to him. He even wore that shit-eating grin after detention was over, forgetting like everything between them happened. Mondo would never be able to act that way if he was in a room with somebody who was mean to him. If it were just the two of them behind closed doors it would just be a one way trip to Poundtown! Poundtown... wait no not like that! Not gay, nope nope _ nooooope _ … At least he wouldn’t want to do that with Ishimaru. Once he got his hands on Ishimaru, he could picture just the two of them… two men beating each other up… less than two feet apart between them. Mondo yelled out of frustration and kicked his bed and dropped to the floor to clutch his foot. 

“MONDO! SHUT THE FUCK UP, UP THERE!” his dad’s voice bellowed from downstairs.

“I STUBBED MY FUCKING FOOT, ASSHOLE!” Mondo snapped back. He let himself sprawl onto his floor after the pain let down. It was just him and the ceiling now, no more intruding thoughts. The ceiling was anything but a pretty sight, the paint on the ceiling is chipped and coming off in multiple places. Numerous grimy stains that came from either water damage or mold, but sometimes both covered the ceiling. Grimy just like Ishimaru’s hands… his pale slender hands that almost look like a girl’s—Mondo yelled again, but this time into his hands to muffle the noise. 

“Fuck, this is really happening, isn’t it.” Mondo let out in the softest whisper. He could dig himself into a grave of denial but he can't deny soulmates—they’re real. Ishimaru is right, he has to see this through too. But he dug himself deep enough where he has to keep this act up, at least for a couple of days, right? Besides he can't just do a complete one-eighty and be the soft guy, he’s the tough, cool guy! Being seen with Ishimaru would be seen as a weakness, right? If… no, when Leon finds out he is going to laugh and tell everybody. This would be social suicide, right? Was there a way he could maintain his social status and be happy? Mondo put his hands on his face and moaned out of frustration. 

Mondo’s night was a blur. The rest of it was consumed by tossing and turning in bed. He ended up throwing on some concealer to cover the darkness under his eyes. He’s glad he let that cute chick at the makeup store pick that out for him—hoping she’d touch him on his mark—wait his mark! It’s gone! Mondo put his hand out and compared it to his other. This was a foreign feeling, his right hand always had that mark. Now it’s gone. Mondo tried to forget about it and got ready for school. He hopped onto his motorcycle and went to school. He was greeted by Leon when he parked his bike. Leon always waits for him in the morning, it’s become their routine. 

“Hey, what should we do, kick around some more trash cans? I can’t wait to see how mad he gets today!” Leon said in a cheerful tone. 

“Nah man, he made me go to detention. If he catches me again I’ll probably get suspended.” Mondo said, empathizing disappointment in his tone. 

“That fucking asshole. Let’s take care of it Oowada style!” Leon said doing some awful kung-fu moves he clearly saw in a movie. 

“Not worth the effort, I guess he’s just trying to do his job, I dunno,” Mondo said apathetically.

“Not worth the effort?!” Leon blurted, “What’s gotten into you man?” Mondo had to think about an excuse to say, but his body already made one for him; his stomach let out a loud growl.

“I haven't eaten yet this morning, I need some food in me. Do you want to go to the vending machines?” Mondo asked. Before Leon could respond a group of girls came up to them, one of them being Sayaka. 

“Where did you learn that kung-fu from?” She asks, barely being able to contain her laughter. The rest of her friends were giggling their heads off. Leon groaned out of embarrassment

“You guys saw that?! C’mon man, let’s bounce!” Leon said running off towards the vending machine.

“Sorry girls, you’ll have to ask him another time. But between you and me it was from crappy kung-fu movies,” Mondo said, acting as smooth as butter. He gave them a finger gun while his left hand was in his pocket reaching for his wallet, “I gotta go, he’s not letting anything get in the way of his breakfast.” Mondo ran after him. The girls started whispering to themselves and pointing to Mondo.


	4. Shitstain

Ishimaru had a spring to his step today. He ended up waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep; so he came to school an hour earlier than he usually did. He was lost in the daydreams of anticipation—such as staring at Mondo in class, or about the end of the day, where he could give Mondo his new folders. Wait, not new, these were  _ spare _ ones he had laying around. He didn't go to the nice office store with all of his money to buy him these. He can feel the cool breeze outside caress him as he was making rounds outside of the school. After some contemplation, he decides to stay outside and do the homework he neglected yesterday. He went to the vending machine and bought a can of coffee with his pocket change.

Ishimaru stiffly sat on a bench nearby and took out a textbook to use as a surface he could write on. He could feel his hands tremor as he opened and took a few sips of the coffee. It warmed him up immediately. His hand reached around his bag for his folder with the homework he needed to do. He took the folder out of the bag and started to diligently complete his homework. Ishimaru has on a slight smile as he thinks he should do this more often. He lost himself in his homework and taking occasional sips of his coffee. He didn’t know how much time passed, but he had already done a few sheets. He could hear somebody’s sneakers scraping against the pavement. He started to get up to tell the person to stop running—but it was Leon! 

“Wait for me, man!” Mondo yelled after him. Ishimaru got flustered and immediately sat back down, as he didn’t want to bring more attention to himself. He accidentally sat right next to his coffee and knocked it over it with his side. He felt the warm liquid seep into the fabric of his pants and drip down the pants leg. The spill spread all over his completed homework and started dripping onto the bench and down to the pavement. The smile on his face quickly faded. Next, he heard the familiar sound of ridiculing laughing. 

“OH MY GOD! The nerd ruined his homework, AND SHAT HIMSELF?!” Leon quaked.

“I-It’s not ‘shit’... it’s coffee,” Ishimaru said, gritting his teeth. He was holding his papers like a discarded tissue in an attempt to fan them out. 

“If he shat himself, why would the stain be on the side of his pants, dumbass,” Mondo said unamused. 

“Kissing his ass is not going to make you get out of detention faster,” Leon grumbled in frustration from his joke not landing.

“Who says I’m kissing his ass, maybe your joke didn’t make sense?” Mondo said in frustration, getting into Leon’s face. 

“What’s up with you being a buzzkill today, have you gone soft or something?” Leon retorted, now getting into Mondo’s face.

“Maybe I’m tired of always being mean to people we don’t really know, ok?!” Mondo yelled, letting out his pent up frustration. The two of them were so close, Mondo spat on Leon with each word he said. Ishimaru saw this escalating and ran up to the two of them and worked his way in between them. Before Ishimaru could scold the two of them, Leon shoved Ishimaru into Mondo. Mondo fell backwards with Ishimaru on top of him. 

"Ow, what the hell man," Mondo said, trying to get up. Ishimaru, being on top of his legs, prevented that. Ishimaru seemed like he was a deer caught in headlights. Mondo wearily reached for his shoulder and tapped it. 

"Ya alright… bud?" Mondo hesitated. Ishimaru shot up after realizing he was on top of Mondo. Mondo lifted himself up and rubbed some little rocks and stones off his jacket.

"BUD?!" Leon exclaimed. "I thought you hated Ishimaru, is his hardass-ness rubbing off on you?" Mondo grabbed Leon and held his arm in a twist. 

"Hey man, I don't know what the fuck you’re on today but leave me out of it. Y'know if ya get to know people maybe they’re different than you first thought. If you can’t deal with that, get the fuck out of my sight." Mondo said in a threatening tone. He let go of Leon's arm and never saw him run off faster. Mondo looked over to Ishimaru, who was speechless and dumbfounded. He walked up to Ishimaru and put his hand on his shoulder again. 

"Hey, let's get this cleaned up. You helped me and now I'll help you,” Mondo said.

"Just the two of us?" Ishimaru asked.

"Yeah, who else is around? Besides shouldn't ya know what words mean—Ultimate Nerd?" Mondo said jokingly to try and brighten the mood.

"I-I just thought… that you wanted nothing to do with me. Just yesterday you didn't even want to be in the same room as me." Ishimaru said.

"Well, ya thought wrong," Mondo reassured. Ishimaru went back to trying to recover his homework. Mondo went up to the vending machine and got Ishimaru another coffee. He shook the machine and two coffees came out. He came back and casually tossed Ishimaru one of the cans. With a smile overtaking Mondo’s face, an increasing blush took over Ishimaru’s face.

“W-Wow Mondo! You didn’t have to do this!” Ishimaru stammered. 

“Consider it a part of the massive debt I owe you now,” Mondo said. 

“Debt?! You don't owe me any money!” Ishimaru said, slightly confused.

“Nah, not a debt like that. Just for, like, all the shit I’ve done to ya, the trouble I caused ya, and the fact that ya were so nice to me yesterday even though I was nothing but mean and angry at ya,” Mondo bashfully admitted. Ishimaru couldn't respond, he could feel his whole face heat up. Mondo took a step back, “I didn’t mean to weird ya out, you good?” he asked. Ishimaru could only muster a nod. Mondo looked over to the coffee everywhere. “There’s nothing we can do about the pavement but I could try and find a paper towel for the bench. Do you think there’s a hairdryer anywhere around here?” Mondo suggested.

“There should be a hairdryer in the art room. But you don’t have to go through all of that effort for me!” Ishimaru insisted, bowing slightly as he said that.

“Don’t sweat it, as I said before, I feel bad for treating you like shit since day one,” Mondo replied.

“Mondo… you’re a really nice guy… you really don’t have to go out of your way for me!” Ishimaru stammered again. 

“I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere,” Mondo said, leaving. He flicked open the coffee can with his thumb and drank from it as he started walking towards the school building.


	5. Walking in Circles

Mondo spent what felt like ten minutes looking for the art room after grabbing toilet paper and even going to his gym locker and grabbing a pair of sweats. Some girls were looking over at him as he was walking in circles and decided to walk up to Mondo.

“Are you lost, Mondo?” One of the girls asked. Mondo looked at the group in confusion.

“How do ya know me?” He asked.

“We’re Sayaka’s friends, we talked to you and Leon this morning.” The girl responded.

“Oh! Right! My bad,” He said scratching the back of his neck with his left hand out of embarrassment. “I am a bit lost, do you know where the art room is?” he asked. Another one of the girls perked up and gave directions to the art room. “So, I just have to go that way and make a left?” He asked, pointing his right pointer finger.

“Yes—wait, Mondo! Is there something different about your hand?” The other girl asked. 

“What do you mean, nothing’s different about it,” Mondo asked.

“Isn’t that where your soulmate mark is… or WAS?!” she pointed out excitedly.

“Don’t worry ya pretty little head about it. Thanks for the directions.” He said turning towards the way he was told to go. He waved at them as he walked away.

  
Mondo finally was able to go outside to Ishimaru again. Ishimaru sat on the dry part of the bench very diligently as he was holding his coffee cup with both hands. He was practicing extra caution after the spill he had. 

“YO!” Mondo called out to him. Ishimaru looked up out of curiosity before he smiled at Mondo. 

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” Ishimaru admitted

“Wow, I see the amount of faith you have in me, very little,” Mondo pouted. As Ishimaru tensed up and became defensive, Mondo slapped Ishimaru’s back. “Relax, it was a joke!” Mondo smiled, “Anyways, I got ya paper towels, a hairdryer, and a pair of my sweats you can borrow!”

“You did?” Ishimaru asked, looked at him in disbelief. Mondo nodded with a smile reaching his arms full of stuff out to him. Ishimaru started to get teary-eyed. “N-Nobody has done anything like this for me before,” Ishimaru stammered. He tried to calm himself down as he took the paper towels from Mondo and knelt down to clean up the mess. Mondo put down his sweats and the hairdryer and knelt down beside Ishimaru. He reached for the paper towels and ripped off half of it. His hand brushed against Ishimarus and they both looked up and blushed at each other.

“H-Hey, I’m not gonna let ya just clean it up alone, I’m helping,” Mondo insisted. Ishimaru smiled at him, the crimson on his face complimented his striking red eyes. Mondo quickly looked down and began wiping down the bench to avoid further embarrassment. The two of them wiped down the bench and used the leftover paper towels to try and soak up as much of the coffee on the pavement as they could. “We should probably go inside to use the hairdryer,” Mondo said. 

“Yes, great idea!” Ishimaru replied, slightly nervous but with a smile on his face. He went to dispose of his coffee before trailing behind Mondo. “I have to admit I’m still in disbelief that you’re doing all of this for me,” he said

“What is there to be in disbelief about? I saw you sit back down without thinking when you saw me come over. In a way it’s indirectly my fault,” Mondo replied, trying to seem casual about it. 

“Nobody has ever really been truly nice to me, I think this has to be the first time I can recall somebody going out of their way for me. Wouldn't you rather cause mischief with Leon or do anything else?” Ishimaru asked.

“I don’t know anymore,” Mondo admitted. “I have to admit the last twenty-four hours have kind of thrown me into a little bit of an existential and identity crisis. I have no idea how to wrap my head around… this, because no offense it’s not what I expected, and I know it can't be what you expected either. I have no idea how to tell Leon, even though I really don't want to tell him,” Mondo admitted, while Ishimaru diligently listened. “I’m not, like, close to Leon, he’s just somebody I can dick around with in school. I don’t really have any friends, besides my gang I guess,” he said. 

“You're lucky you have friends at all! Nobody ever comes up and talks to me voluntarily. They always want something from me if they do,” Ishimaru said with a hint of sadness. “They always stay away because of my family’s reputation, or because of how I enforce the rules,” he said looking towards the floor. 

“Your family's reputation?” Mondo asked with a hint of confusion. 

“They went over him in history class recently, Toranosuke Ishimaru. One of our former prime ministers.” Ishimaru clarified.

“Ohh, oh shit, that guy!” Mondo recalled. “He’s actually your grandpa?”

“Yes, he is… or was. He left our family with a tremendous amount of debt and a tarnished reputation. He’s the reason I am working so hard today,”

“So you want to be a prime minister like your old man? I can respect that,” Mondo replied. 

“I do want to be the prime minister, and I’m hoping my education here will put my foot in the door, but I never want to be like my grandfather!” Ishimaru said angrily. “He never worked hard for his position, he only got where he was only because he was a genius. I believe you can only get to where you want to be in life with hard work, and that’s what I plan to do. I already study every day as soon as I get home when I go to sleep.” Ishimaru said.

“Wow, that’s deep…” Mondo replied in disbelief, not knowing what else to say. Mondo looked around and realized they’d been walking in circles, ‘Wow, that was a very engaging conversation’ he thought to himself. He also spotted an outlet and a desk out in the hallway. “Hey, here’s an outlet!” Mondo said kneeling over to plug in the hairdryer. Ishimaru put the soaked papers on the desk and held onto them so they wouldn't blow away. Mondo turned on the hairdryer to its hottest and highest setting. Mondo looked over to Ishimaru as he was moving around the hairdryer. Ishimaru was looking down at the papers with concentration, slightly biting his lip. Mondo couldn't stop staring before Ishimaru was looking up at him trying to talk. He turned off the hairdryer so he could hear Ishimaru.

“It’s done!” Ishimaru said with a smile, “Thank you so much, Mondo!” Ishimaru put the papers in his bag and perked up in excitement. “Oh, I almost forgot! I was going to give you these after school, but these are for you!” He handed Mondo the office supplies he got for him last night. Mondo looked very surprised

“Did ya get me new pencils and stuff too?” he asked.

“Yes, I did, I’m not sure if you needed them or not. But don’t worry about it, you don't have to pay me back!” Ishimaru beamed.

“I-I really appreciate this, thank you, Ishimaru.” Mondo said with a slight smile. Not knowing what else to do, he reached down to Ishimaru's head and rubbed his hair a little bit. It was a lot softer than he thought it would be. Ishimaru being shocked and flustered by the action was also very cute. Mondo bit his lip, he could see himself falling for Ishimaru as each moment passed. He had to remain calm. Luckily Mondo was saved by the bell, literally. The warning bell rang and echoed through the halls. Ishimaru jumped up ready to go in action, like a wind-up toy.

“Oh no! I’m going to be late for class!” He said, scrambling to get his stuff ready.

“It’s just the warning bell, you’ll be fine,” Mondo reassured him. 

“Yes, but I am usually in class already. I really hate being late,” he said apologetically. He looked over to Mondo. “I’m assuming I won’t see you until after school, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably see you then. And I’ll try and be on time today,” he smiled. Ishimaru smiled back and quickly ran off, and Mondo made his way to class as well. 


	6. A Complete 180

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! I got writer's block and have also been making some sprite videos (https://youtu.be/-Ed7HbvJQIc & https://youtu.be/aR-3bQD7jcA if you wanted to check that out)
> 
> I also posted another fanfiction, a Danganronpa Animal Crossing AU. If that's something you're interested in I hope you'll check it out. I want to expand more on it!

Mondo got to class two minutes before it started, probably the earliest he has ever been to class. Walking to his seat, he could see Ishimaru was already in his seat ready for class, with a smile plastered on his face. Mondo smiled to himself but it quickly faded when Leon shot him a dirty look. There seemed to be some whispers in class, but Mondo ignored it. He sat down and started to get some of his stuff out, he figured he should probably try and pay attention. It would make Ishimaru happy, Ishimaru would be proud of him—‘No wait, this isn’t about Ishimaru’. The black folder Ishimaru gave him had a cool design on it, and it almost seems new and unused. The pencils were also in unopened packaging, there was no doubt about it; Ishimaru must’ve gotten these for him. A smile plastered his face again as he opened the pencils and got the paper he needed for his classes. Nobody else seemed to notice that he was grinning like an idiot. The bell for class rang, but there was no teacher in sight.

Suddenly, a paper ball hit the back of Mondo’s head, causing the smile to leave him once again and his brows to furrow. Mondo was not in the mood to deal with Leon right now. Choosing to ignore the paper ball, Mondo kept looking at the board, waiting for the teacher to magically walk in the class. Another paper ball hit the back of his head, Mondo could feel his eye twitch. But before he could turn around and snap at Leon, Ishimaru got out of his seat. 

“Hey, it is very rude to throw paper balls at your fellow classmates!” Ishimaru said, pointing his finger accusingly at Leon.

“Woah, hey hey _hey_ hardass, I am _trying_ to get the attention of my _friend_ ,” Leon sneered. “My friend which you have clearly got your grips on, you’re making him a fucking hardass! Nobody wants to be around a hardass, but I’m sure you know that.” 

“Insulting students is against the school rules, Leon! Please refrain from doing that.” 

“Just talk and act like a normal person, rules rules _rules_ , do you know anything else besides those?”

“It’s frankly not your business what I do and don’t know,”

“Oh c’mon, you have to know how much of a hardass you are. Everybody avoids you and shits on you for a reason. Bullying is necessary. Just let us know when you decide to act like the rest of us. Or maybe you never can, your grandpa sure set you down on a good path.”

“HEY!” Mondo roared, bringing the whole class to fall silent. “Don’t bring his fucking grandpa into this,” he said making his way over to Leon’s desk. Ishimaru fell silent as well, and looked at Mondo in disbelief. 

“Why the fuck do you suddenly care about Ishimaru? I am so lost. You’re letting him get in the way of our friendship,” 

“Our _friendship_?” Mondo scoffed. “Maybe we shouldn’t be friends if you’re getting your panties in a bunch from me having other friends!”

“I don’t give a shit about your other friends, I give a shit that suddenly you care about Ishimaru. Just yesterday you pushed him into a wall, but today you're willing to fight me over him? What the actual fuck has gotten into you?”

“None of ya damn business,”

“Oh, there’s only one trope that could get somebody to act like that! Soulmates!” Hifumi gushed loudly from his seat.

“Shut up, Hifumi!” Mondo and Leon both yelled.

“Woah wait, what if… you guys were soulmates?” Leon questioned.

“I heard Mondo lost his soulmate mark!” Sayaka said. The class murmured in curiosity.

“So what if I did? I don’t need to announce to the world that I met my soulmate.”

“You know, you don’t need to be ashamed of having a soulmate, Mondo!” Aoi chirped in. “Meeting Sakura was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said putting her arms around Sakura’s arm. 

“I-... Hey! Again this is none of your damn business, don’t go snooping,” Mondo said.

“It’s rude to pry into people’s private lives. If he doesn’t want to share, leave him be. Besides, we should all be in our seats! The teacher might be late but that doesn’t mean we should slack off! Ishimaru said.

“Whatever man, you have a stick so far up your ass that you’ll never get a soulmate,” Leon said in defeat.

“Making assumptions makes an ‘ass’ out of you and me, Leon,” 

“Holy shit! You fucking cursed,” Leon said in disbelief. The teacher walked into class and started to teach the lesson planned. ‘That was close…’ Mondo thought to himself. With his nerves riled up, he couldn't help but tap his pencil on his worksheet and shake his leg under his desk. This always happened, Mondo had such a hard time paying attention; and the altercation dashed any hopes of being able to focus on today’s lesson. At least Ishimaru could probably fill him in after school. As soon as class ended, Mondo made a beeline for the door.

“Wait!” A voice called out after him. Mondo turned around looking frustrated, he didn’t want to deal with anybody being nosy right now… or ever. But a slight smile appeared when he realized it was Ishimaru. “Thank you… for earlier,” Ishimaru said nervously.

“Oh, uh, no problem,” Mondo stammered. “Let’s move and talk. I don’t want to be in here any longer than I have to be.”

“Where are you going, the cafeteria?” Ishimaru asked.

“Yeah, how about you join me,” Mondo said. Ishimaru nodded anxiously. The two of them went to go eat lunch together. Ishimaru couldn’t begin to explain how grateful he was for Mondo standing up for him. Eating lunch and hearing Ishimaru talk about things could be something he could get used to. The warning bell for the next class period eventually rang.

“I must be going,” Ishimaru said apologetically.

“Yeah, see you after school,” Mondo responded.

“Um, about that. It… doesn’t have to be detention. We could do something else. I don’t know what but I think you’ve reflected upon your actions.”

“Actually, can you catch me up on what happened in class? I could not focus after everything went down with Leon,” 

“Yes! Of course! Let’s meet in the library!” 

“Thanks,”

“Oh, one more thing. Sorry if this is out of line but-” Ishimaru said as he reached his hand to Mondo’s face. A frozen spell hit Mondo, unable to move. The cold fingers grazed his face before pulling back. The heat rising to his face thawed him out of the spell. 

“W-What was that for?” Mondo stammered, not knowing what else to say.

“There was some rice on your face! Sorry, but I couldn’t let you go to class like that.” Ishimaru said. Mondo let out a laugh.

“Thanks. I think I would’ve been fine with a piece of rice on my face though.”

“Nonsense, we must all be presentable,” he reassured. “Well, I really have to go,”

“See you in the library,” 

“Yes! I am looking forward to it!” Ishimaru said with a big smile before turning back to walk to his class. Mondo couldn’t stop thinking about Ishimaru’s touch for the rest of the school day. He must find some way to get Ishimaru to indirectly touch him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if that dialogue was easy to follow! A friend of mine read through my story and gave me a lot of grammar and writing tips (:


	7. Upside Down and Inside Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in an eternity. I was going through a lot of stuff in 2020, and my mental health was in a horrible place. I apologize if I drop from the face of the earth again, it's still not completely better and school is starting up soon.

To say that this day was flipped upside down was an understatement. To find the prefect wearing a large grin was unexpected. To almost all of his thoughts going back to Mondo was unnerving. Ishimaru tried not to let it get in the way of his unwavering dedication to his education. But his efforts were unavailing. Ishimaru was falling hard, and he could not stop himself. He was quite literally staring into the black abyss of the unknown, and that scared him. This was one thing Ishimaru could not study or learn, it just… happened.

 **DING DONG BING BONG!** The chime of the bell pulled him out of his consuming thoughts, but also further scared him. He rushed to put his stuff in his bag and speed walked to the library. Mondo somehow beat him to the library. He was sitting at a table, carefully getting his stuff out. A calming smile unconsciously occupied Mondo’s face, and it quickly spread to Ishimaru. Without further delay, he went over to the table and sat next to Mondo. Not knowing what to say he grinned at the biker. Mondo looked over to him and slightly smiled

“‘Sup,” Mondo said, playing it cool.

Ishimaru stuttered, “Um… what’s up… _bro_?” 

“Bro?” Mondo said, about to laugh out loud. But Ishimaru quickly put his hand on Mondo’s mouth. 

“It’s the library, you can’t laugh!” Ishimaru loudly whispered. 

“I have a bad time controlling my volume, sorry… but seriously? _Bro_? Where did ya learn that?” 

“Mimicking my peers,” Ishimaru stated. Mondo looked at Ishimaru for a second before messing Ishimaru’s hair with his hand. 

“You can call me bro if ya want,” he said with a gentle smile. 

Ishimaru genuinely smiled back. They looked into each other's eyes for a second, before Mondo’s stomach roared and quickly he looked away embarrassed. “I only had coffee this morning. How about we get something from the vending machines and study in the detention room instead?” He suggested.

“Wow! Great idea! Except I don’t have money,” Ishimaru said glumly.

“Do you forget that easily? I told you this morning, I want to pay for all the trouble I’ve caused you, this is the least I could do.” Mondo said. The hall monitor couldn't muster out any sort of response, so Mondo pushed out Ishimaru’s chair and put his arm around the smaller man. 

‘Mimicking my peers’, the statement pang at Mondo’s heart. He felt a weird need to protect Ishimaru now. Looking at his smile before made him want to hold his face with his hands and rub his thumb on his cold cheek and- Mondo felt an arm creep around his waist. He stole a glance at Ishimaru, who was looking down to the ground. He squeezed Ishimaru closer. 

They got to the vending machine and Mondo stocked up on snacks to share between the two. Their hands were full so they walked side by side to the classroom. 

“I’ve never had these before,” Ishimaru stated.

“What?! Really?” Mondo said in shock. 

“Yes, we don’t really have a lot of food around the house so I rarely ever get junk food.”

“We have a new mission now, race me to the classroom. We have to try these asap!” 

“We can’t run in the halls, Mondo, are you crazy?!”

“Maybe,” He said, starting to speed walk ahead of Ishimaru. Ishimaru caught up to him quite easily. 

“I do this everyday, if you want to race me try harder without running”. Mondo increased his speed while thinking on his feet, he spaced out where he landed his feet and used his legs to increase his speed. Ishimaru sped walk as fast as he could without running. But Mondo made it to the classroom first and closed the door. He set the snacks down quickly before putting his back against the wall,‘ _What was he doing?_ ’. The door opened, _‘What was he doing?_ ’. His arms moved on his own… ‘ _What was he doing?_ ’


	8. Sweet and Salty

“Mondo, how did you do that?” Ishimaru asked. He closed the door but realized he walked into an empty classroom. But suddenly he was grabbed from the side. Mondo pulled him into a hug. Snacks dropped all over the floor. Mondo caressed Ishimaru’s back and slid the both of them to the floor. Ishimaru couldn’t muster a word, so Mondo spoke for him. 

“I think… I THINK I GET WHY WE’RE SOULMATES!” Mondo unintentionally yelled. Ishimaru made some room between them so he could see Mondo clearly. Ishimaru’s face was red, there were tears in his eyes already. 

“I don’t deserve this… any of this,” Ishimaru said. Mondo firmly put his grip on Ishimaru’s shoulders. 

“Look at me,” Mondo said sternly. “You deserve to be loved. You deserve happiness, you deserve food, time off of studying and school, and all of the things life has to offer. I want to protect you, I want to eat snacks with you and maybe go out with you on the weekends. I want to beat the shit out of Leon for you, but also because it’s for you, I won’t. I will get people to include you, you will have friends. And I want to be there for every second of it.” Mondo barely finished as Ishimaru started shaking and sobbing. He wrapped himself around Ishimaru to try and soothe him. After a few minutes, Ishimaru wasn’t crying as much. Mondo adjusted him so he could look at the hall monitor again. His instincts immediately went to rub Ishimaru's tears off his face. Mondo’s hands cupped most of Ishimaru’s face, it was warm against his hands. He uses his thumbs to rub the tears away. 

“Mondo…” the name spilled out of Ishimaru’s mouth. Mondo moved his hand to hush Ishimaru. Before moving in and kissing Ishimaru on the cheek. Ishimaru latched himself around Mondo. An emotional wreck, he started crying again. “Thank you…” Mondo wrapped himself around Ishimaru and put his face in the crook of Ishimaru’s neck. It was nice, he could get used to this. 

The orange from outside hit the classroom, waking Mondo up from slumber. ‘ _Ah shit, it’s sunset. We never studied, did we_ ,”. He reached over for Ishimaru’s hand and gripped it tightly. He rubbed the inside of his hand with his thumb. Ishimaru slightly stirred. To be honest, Mondo still had no idea what came over him earlier.. ‘Is this what having a soulmate feels like?’. He wishes he could go back in time and beat the shit out of himself whenever he treated Ishimaru rudely. He would gladly face off anybody for Ishimaru’s dignity… funny how feelings can change so quickly. Ishimaru’s stomach growled loudly. Mondo poked Ishimaru’s cheeks.

“Hey, wake up Ishi…” Mondo whispered. Ishimaru yawned and stretched his upper body. He looked at Mondo and then rapidly blinked. 

“Wait… that wasn’t a dream?” he asked, still waking up. Mondo shook his head before getting up to get the snacks he placed down earlier. 

“Let’s eat, _bro_ ,” Mondo winked “I was starving before, you’re starving,” Mondo said, spreading the snacks around the floor. “Have your pick at the harvest,”. Ishimaru hesitated at all the options. Mondo picked one up and pushed it to Ishimaru. “Here, you said you haven't tried this one right?”. Ishimaru opened the wrapper and set it beside him, before biting into it. His eyes widened. He quickly swallowed the food so he could speak.

“This is really good!” Ishimaru beamed.

“I’m glad, try some other ones so I can eat the ones you don’t like,” 

“There’s more than enough for the two of us,”

“I insist,” Mondo said before lightly throwing snacks into Ishimaru’s lap. He opened another bag of snacks and started trying snacks. He didn’t like them all, as to be expected, so the two of them started eating all the different kind of snacks until they were stuffed. Mondo leaned against the wall

“I should not have eaten that much. I don’t want to move.” Mondo said.

“We should leave before it gets too late…” Ishimaru stated.

“Want me to drive ya home, Ishimaru? Ishi…?” He said, not sure what to call the other.

“Hey, you can call me Taka, by the way. I’ve always wanted to be called that by a friend,” he smiled.


End file.
